North Tongu MP, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, has criticised his colleague MP and Sanitation Minister, Freda Prempeh, over her comments that the Volta flood victims refused to heed evacuation warnings.
On social media on Tuesday, Mr. Ablakwa described Madam Prempeh’s remarks as insensitive and ignorant.
Hon. Ablakwa said that no efforts were made by the government to evacuate victims of the flood. He questioned the plans the government had in place for the residents in the affected communities before causing the Volta River Authority to embark on the spillage.
“There was absolutely no effort by the government to evacuate the over 30,000 people affected by the VRA-induced floods.”
“Can she tell us where they intended to evacuate my constituents? Is it the classrooms where they are forced to be now under extremely inhumane conditions?”
“Where is the proof of alternative housing arrangements made by the government?”, Ablakwa charged.
The North Tongu MP submitted that the flood victims were legitimate owners of their respective communities even before the development of the Akosombo dam and could not be treated as squatters, adding that their present dire condition is a result of the government’s “negligence” and “ineptitude.”
“The Sanitation Minister should sanitise her thoughts and understand in very clear terms that my constituents and all those affected across the country by her government’s negligence and ineptitude are not squatters.”
“Our forebears were here as land owners centuries before the Akosombo and Kpong dams were constructed.”
“My people are down and out due to failed leadership; don’t kick them with your callous lies, crass ignorance, and gross insensitivity”, the MP fumed.
Madam Prempeh, during a forum by the Ghana Water Company on Monday, October 23, ascribed the Volta flood devastation to the refusal of residents to adhere to warnings from authorities months before the dam spillage.
Her comments have since drawn wide public bashing.
